Pages
by mikotyzini
Summary: Yang Xiao Long is an expert at flirting with girls - tall ones, short ones, princesses or thieves...it made no difference to her. But when she stumbles into Pages, a tiny bookstore she's never even noticed before, she might as well have entered an alternate dimension.
1. Chapter 1

**This is for Moongarm - in more ways than one! (You'll see)**

 **Recently, I felt like I couldn't write, like my super power had been taken away! So...I thought...what if Yang lost her super power? Well, this was the result. This'll just be a short little 3 parter - enjoy!**

* * *

" _Please_ tell me you're already on your way."

"I'm on my way! Jeez, do you really think I'd be late to my own sister's birthday party?"

"You were late last year."

"That was an accident!" she immediately replied - her long standing excuse for last year's late arrival at the tip of her tongue. "I ran into someone I knew and -"

"Couldn't get away, I know. We've all heard that excuse a million times."

Grinning into the phone, she sent a wink at a cute girl passing her by on the sidewalk, grinning even wider at the soft blush the simple gesture elicited.

"So you'll be here soon, right?" the voice on the other end of the line pressed.

"Absolutely - just need to pick something up and I'll be right there."

"...you still haven't gotten her a gift, have you."

She let out a laugh at the comment, practically able to hear a set of pearly white teeth clenching through the airwaves.

" _Relax_ , Weiss. I know exactly what I'm getting her - just need to pick it up and I'll be on my way."

"Oh really? What are you getting her?"

She flinched at the question - her sister's girlfriend having once again caught her in the midst of a little fib. She actually had no clue what she was going to get Ruby, but she'd rather die than let Weiss catch her in another lie.

"Uhh...I dunno Weiss...I don't wanna ruin the surprise…" she said slowly, stalling for time while her eyes swept the store names of the crowded shopping area in search of any brilliant ideas.

She was great at operating under pressure - she could do this, no problem.

"You can't very well ruin a surprise of _nothing_ ," the girl replied curtly, once again assuming she was right.

Suddenly, a thought popped into her mind as her eyes landed upon a nearby store awning.

"A book!" she shouted, a little too excitedly, into the phone.

"A book…" Weiss replied, disbelief oozing from the girl's voice.

"Yeah, a book about weapons - you know how she likes that kinda stuff. It's really cool too, has all these diagrams and pictures and such."

Her feet were now guiding her towards the small bookstore she'd just discovered on the opposite side of the street, wedged in between a 24 hour fitness center and a smoothie bar. Kind of a weird location for a bookstore, but she was in no position to complain.

"That's actually...a really good idea…"

"Oh, hold up Weiss," she said quickly, reaching down to scoop up the small, plastic ID card that had just fallen from the purse of a girl walking in front of her.

"Hey!" she called out, her shout catching the girl's attention as she jogged a few steps to catch up. "I think you dropped this."

The girl looked to her hand, eyes widening in surprise as she accepted the card.

"Thank you so much!" the girl said, giving her a big smile for her efforts. "My day would have been totally ruined if I'd lost this!"

"Well, that'd be no good," she immediately replied in a low voice, throwing in a smile as she leaned a little closer. "Wouldn't want someone so gorgeous to have her day ruined, now would we?"

As expected, a blush instantly appeared on the girl's cheeks while she attempted to stammer out a response, not succeeding in forming anything close to words.

Ah...a shy one. Cute.

"Hey, I have an idea..." she interrupted, opting to help this one out in the interest of saving time. "Maybe we could grab lunch sometime and discuss how it should be illegal for someone to steal my heart so quickly."

A few seconds later, she was walking away with a grin as she shoved the slip of paper containing a phone number into her back pocket. Raising the phone back to her ear, she was surprised to find that Weiss had held on the line the entire time.

"Enjoy the show?" she teased while resuming her trek towards the bookstore.

"Do you have any plans of calling that one?" the girl asked, voice containing a hint of both annoyance and amusement.

Even though Weiss couldn't see her, she shrugged her shoulders.

"I dunno - depends on how I feel. She was pretty cute though - all stuttery and stuff."

But the dates were always much less satisfying than the initial meeting...so she rarely went on those. Something about getting a stranger to agree to give her their number was exhilarating, while spending an evening 'getting to know each other' was not.

"I'm so glad Ruby only inherited a fraction of your flirty behavior..."

She had to laugh at the comment as she opened the door to the store and stepped through, immediately lowering her voice as she walked into the overwhelming silence inside.

"I had to _teach_ her what little flirting she's capable of!" she whispered, glancing around the unfamiliar store she'd just entered. "Alright, gotta go Weiss. Need to find this book."

"Yang Xiao Long in a bookstore...I'd love to see that. Try not to get lost."

"Ha ha," she replied dryly. "I'll see you in a bit."

Ending the call, she stuck her phone back in her pocket and turned her undivided attention to the shelves surrounding her.

'Pages,' the store was called - and there certainly were plenty of those in here. Every inch of wall was covered in floor to ceiling bookcases stuffed with books. The middle of the store was packed with freestanding bookshelves, also piled high with books.

And books, and books, and books...there were _so_ many of them - covering every nook and cranny, stacked on every imaginable surface.

Suddenly, Weiss' 'try not to get lost' comment seemed a little less absurd.

"Ok, books on weapons...where might you be…" she muttered to herself, walking up to the end of the first bookshelf and reading the legend attached to the side.

'Non-fiction: A-F'

It would be in the non-fiction section, right? Weapons were real things, after all...so maybe she needed to find the 'Non-fiction: W' section.

'W' for 'weapons.'

Yeah, that should be right.

The right section was the next aisle over, so she walked the space between the shelves slowly, eyes scanning the spines of hundreds of books in search of anything that screamed 'I'd be perfect for Ruby!' at her. But _none_ of these books seemed to have anything to do with weapons...in fact, their titles didn't seem to fall into the 'W' category at all!

Glancing at her watch, she realized she was going to need a little expert help in order to have a prayer of making it to Ruby's surprise party on time. Even though Ruby wouldn't care if she was a little late, Weiss might literally kill her if she didn't make it there before Ruby got home.

Heading towards where she thought the checkout counter would be, she found it was currently occupied by a girl her age.

A _very pretty_ girl her age.

She grinned as she continued her approach.

Yes, she would be needing help, indeed.

The girl had dark, raven-colored hair that fell in waves behind her shoulders. Her eyes were currently glued to the book resting open on the counter in front of her, but those eyes turned upward when she sensed an added presence nearby.

Gold - she had gold eyes.

Beautiful - absolutely stunning - mesmerizing.

Now _this_ \- this was a girl she would be taking out to dinner.

Walking right up to the counter, she rested both hands on its flat surface as the girl calmly placed a single finger down on the page to mark her spot.

"Hello," she said first, giving the girl a wide, charming smile in greeting.

"Hello," came the soft response, accompanied with a small upward twitch of those alluring lips.

"I -"

As the girl looked on, her words suddenly stopped, cut off mid sentence without so much as a warning.

She...what? What was she going to say next?

Her eyes widened in surprise when words refused to appear in her mind - everything seeming just out of her grasp as the girl across the counter looked at her curiously, tilting her head to the side while waiting patiently for the rest of her sentence.

But what could she say?

Words. She needed words.

"Can I...help you with something?"

If she could have made any sound, she would have groaned at the question - she was not starting this conversation out on the best foot, _at all_.

But, she could recover. She always recovered.

"Uh, y-yeah," she stammered, _words_ finally coming out in a rush. "I'm uh…"

Dammit, what was she even doing in this store to begin with?

She'd been on the phone with Weiss, Weiss had been scolding her about something, as usual...oh! Ruby's birthday present!

"I'm uh...my little sister really likes weapons."

The girl blinked in confusion, leaning back in her chair as if trying to put a little more distance between them.

"Oh...uh...that's nice…"

What the hell, Yang. What are you doing? 'My little sister likes weapons?'

Ok, time to play it cool - take a deep breath, start over, smile and _form sentences_.

"My uh...sister...i-it's her birthday - well not technically today, but she uh, there's a party and...you know, she likes weapons and stuff…"

Honestly, her heart was pounding so loudly in her ears, she had absolutely no idea what she'd just said.

But the girl was at least nodding in understanding as she placed a bookmark between the pages she'd been reading and closed it with a soft snap, an amused smile tugging at her lips all the while.

And it was just _so adorable_. Her smile was _adorable_.

"You're looking for a book on weapons for your sister's birthday," the girl stated as if having found the answer to a complicated riddle.

Nodding her head, she responded with a big smile. Now was the perfect time to inject a witty remark…

"U-uh, yes -"

Yup, real witty, Yang. An award for setting the bar in wittiness is coming your way.

This time she really did groan out loud, covering her face with one hand while wondering what the hell was going on.

But then something amazing happened...something even more adorable than the smile.

The girl giggled - the sound instantly bringing her eyes upward as she was blessed with the vision of utmost beauty sitting in front of her. She could do nothing but stare as the girl stood and walked out from behind the counter - their suddenly close proximity scrambling what was left of her thoughts.

"I can show you where we keep those books. Hopefully, you'll be able to pick one out."

"I'm _great_ at picking things," she replied with a scoff, immediately shaking her head when she heard how that sounded out loud.

Dammit, Yang...think before you speak.

On the plus side, the girl laughed again at her complete ineptitude to function like a normal human being, while gesturing to follow her through the shelves of the store.

The girl was just _so pretty_. Everything about her seemed too good to be true...from those sparkling golden eyes to that petite frame to the wavy black hair that reached all the way down her back…

"S-so, uh...you work here?" she asked, sighing when she realized she'd just asked the dumbest question in the history of mankind.

"Nope, they just let me sit behind the counter and take people's money."

For an instant, she completely believed those words, until the girl turned around and gave her a playful grin.

Of course, that accomplished nothing but to make her even _more_ nervous.

What was wrong with her? Basically the _only_ thing she was exceptional at was flirting with pretty girls - and this girl was the very definition of pretty. So why were her abilities failing her now, when she needed them the most?

"Ok, here's all the books we have on weapons -" the girl paused to gesture towards a small section of the shelf in front of them. "Do you know what types of weapons she likes?"

"I...don't know...like, swords and stuff?"

The girl chuckled at the response before pulling a few of the books from the shelf and passing them over to her.

"These might be good - they're more general and will cover a lot of different weapons."

"Do they have pictures?"

The girl suddenly stopped, appearing more than a little confused by the question.

"Oh, I'm sorry - I guess I didn't ask how old your sister was. Is she not reading yet?"

"O-oh! No! I mean, yeah, she can read - I don't think very often though, she just - likes pictures."

The girl was nodding slowly at her, as if pretending that she had any ounce of idea what Yang was trying to say.

This had just gone from bad, to really bad, to un-freaking-believably terrible.

"Uh, these are great. I'll take all of them," she finally said, holding up the stack of books in her arms and praying she could get the hell out of there without making more of an absolute fool of herself.

"Oh, that's great! Then I can ring you up up front," the girl replied with a smile, seeming genuinely happy to have been helpful.

Ring you up...there was a pick-up line in there _somewhere_. Something about phones and ringing...why couldn't she find it?

As they made their way back to the checkout counter, she decided there were _two_ things she would leave this store with - her gift to Ruby and this girl's name. That's it. Not even a phone number, just a name would do.

She was setting the bar quite low today.

"Thank you...for the help," she said as the girl began scanning the backs of the books into the computer.

"You're welcome. Although it _is_ kinda my job," the girl replied with a smile.

"W-well yeah, but you didn't have to be so…"

Shit...why was 'pretty' the only word she could think of right now?

Would that work? Was that a good line? Would that be flirty or too over the top?

Too late, the moment had already passed and she just looked like an idiot who couldn't complete her sentences again.

"Anyway...your total is $45.50. How would you like to pay?"

"Uh...my card," she replied, pulling the piece of plastic from her pocket and handing it across the counter.

After swiping it and tearing off the receipt that printed up seconds later, the girl placed everything in a plastic bag for her and handed it to her.

"Here you go. I hope your sister really likes them."

"Me too," she replied, slowly taking the items and turning towards the exit.

Her name, Yang - you need her name. If you leave here without her name, you are an utter disgrace to flirters everywhere.

"H-hey, maybe you could help me with something else?" she asked, turning hesitantly back to the counter.

The question piqued the girl's interest, one eyebrow raising in curiosity.

"Sure, I'll help if I can."

"Ok...ok, I was just wondering...if you had a name?"

Wow, that was unbelievably hard to ask.

"I _do_ have a name, yes," the girl responded with a grin.

She waited for a few more seconds before realizing that that was all the girl was going to give her.

"Oh - I meant, you know, could I have it?" she rephrased.

"I'd probably prefer to keep my name...didn't your parents give you one of your own?"

Ok, it was a _little_ bit difficult to do this when the girl was being so playful with her!

"Would you...tell me what it is?" she tried, one last time.

The girl laughed, seeming incredibly pleased that she'd _finally_ been able to ask the right question. If she didn't know any better, she would say that the girl was enjoying this immensely. Hell, if this was happening to anyone but her right now, she'd be in hysterics watching it unfold.

"It's Blake," came her answer, accompanied by another amused smile.

Blake...that was a great name.

"Cool," she replied with a nod, feeling tremendously accomplished with that tiny bit of information. "Blake - that's a cool name."

Inching her way backwards towards the exit, she still hopelessly tried to salvage whatever shred of dignity she had left.

"So, Blake, maybe I'll see you again sometime, you know, like around town or something."

The girl stifled her giggles when she bumped into the side of the door, having been too preoccupied walking backward to look where she was going.

"It was nice to meet you…?" Blake called out to her as she finally found the door handle and opened the door.

"Y-yeah, you too!" she hastily called back, making a beeline outside, hearing the door shut behind her.

She was already across the street when she realized the girl had been asking for her name in return.

"Oh god dammit…" she cursed under her breath as she rushed towards the train line that would take her to Ruby and Weiss' place. Hopping aboard right as the doors slid shut, she fell into an empty seat with a huff, setting the heavy bag of books on the floor between her feet.

Well, that really couldn't have gone any worse.

When she glanced up, she caught the eye of the girl sitting across the aisle from her - giving her a small smile. For her own sanity, she decided to test something out, leaning forward and putting her elbows on her knees so she wouldn't have to yell over the sound of the train rattling down the tracks.

"Hey, I just wanted to say thank you for sitting there - because until a few seconds ago, I couldn't have imagined someone so jaw droppingly beautiful in my life."

As the girl flushed and murmured polite denials of the compliment, she leaned back in her seat, filled with more confusion than anything else.

This was normally where she would use another line to get a phone number, but this time she just let it slide, allowing her eyes to drift out of the window to signal that their conversation was over.

Complete stranger...attractive...her age…and flirting was _easy_ \- almost easier than breathing.

So why hadn't she been able to do it with Blake?

Instead, she'd been like a fish out of water - stuttering, blubbering, out of breath…

One thing was for certain - she would be going back to Pages again.


	2. Chapter 2

**This story makes me blush SO badly. Gahh...I feel just as awkward as Yang when I write it...**

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"Hey Blake, how are you doing? ...oh, that's good to hear! Sorry, by the way, I totally spazzed and forgot to give you my name the other day - it's Yang. Really nice to see you again."

She probably sounded like a crazy person, mumbling to herself as she pushed through crowds of shoppers towards her destination, but she really didn't care.

She needed to practice.

Apparently, Blake possessed some sort of superpower which prevented her from being able to flirt as she normally would, resulting in her becoming a stuttering mess. In order to counteract this effect, she was practicing their potential conversation in advance - making sure she had some lines already locked and loaded for when the situation called for them.

It was much like memorizing a speech, banking on the girl responding in a particular way.

She would usually just wing it off the top of her head, but this situation was...different.

"Oh, my sister? Yeah, she loved the books - thank you so much for helping pick those out. She spent the next few days reading each one and building a life size, working replica of one of the rocket launchers. It was all fun and games until she blew a hole in the side of the garage."

The memory made her laugh - the screaming phone call she'd received from Weiss providing amusement for days on end. Apparently, it was all _her_ fault that there was a rocket sized hole in one wall because _she'd_ been the one to buy those _wretched_ books for Ruby.

Never mind that it had been _Weiss_ who'd retrofitted the giant garage into a high tech workshop, creating something of a playground for the highly destructive brunette.

As a familiar awning finally came into view, her nerves increased tenfold - an alarming occurrence seeing as how she normally didn't feel nervous at all.

But this was it - this was where her abilities would be put to the test. If she had any hope at all of potentially taking Blake out for a date, she needed to prevail today. Another repeat of their first meeting, and she could kiss that opportunity goodbye.

If she remembered everything she'd practiced over the past few days, everything would be just fine...

"What am I looking for today? Oh, my sister's girlfriend really likes flowers. I thought it would be nice to surprise her with a nice book on gardening."

"Excuse me?"

Her attention was jolted from her thoughts as a young, attractive redhead tentatively approached her on the sidewalk, raising one hand to draw her gaze.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but would you happen to know where the nearest bank is?" the girl asked with a hopeful smile.

Being asked for directions was one of the easiest ways for her to pick up a phone number or two. The girls who asked were usually from out of town and always thankful for the help - _especially_ if she personally escorted them where they were hoping to go.

Which she certainly would have been willing to do...if she didn't already have other plans.

"It's on the other side of the street, three blocks down," she replied casually, pointing off in the direction of the closest bank she knew. The stranger had hardly managed to get out a 'thank you' before she'd turned to walk away, determined to get into Pages before her memory began to fail her.

"I'm here for a book on gardening...my sister's girlfriend really likes flowers…" she muttered under her breath as the distance to the store disappeared beneath her feet.

Reaching the door, she took a deep breath before entering, giving herself a silent pep talk while hoping that today would turn out much better than her first trip inside.

Pages was quiet...just as quiet as it had been the other day. There didn't seem to be anyone else shopping at the moment, although she questioned how many people actually frequented bookstores these days.

The lack of customers would work to her advantage though - preventing any unexpected interruptions that might throw her off her game.

Or preventing anyone else from witnessing her make a complete fool of herself again.

Walking purposefully between the bookshelves to the checkout counter, her heart began beating loudly when she saw the girl sitting there once again.

Blake - looking even more gorgeous than she remembered. The girl was reading another book, the image exactly the same as the first time they'd met.

And, just like the first time, she walked straight up to the counter and set her palms calmly down on the flat surface, daring her nerves to take over her mouth this time.

"Hey, Blake," she said softly, smiling both to the girl and to herself at how composed she'd managed to remain thus far.

Well, she was composed until the second those golden eyes found hers - instantly unraveling every coherent thought in her mind.

Then Blake smiled at her...and any thought of remaining cool and collected flew right out the window.

Was _this_ what butterflies felt like? This jittery energy fluttering around in her chest?

Holy hell...how did people function like this?

"Oh hello - I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon," Blake greeted her with a small smile.

Andddd...that reaction hadn't been anywhere in her rehearsed speech.

"O-oh, I'm sorry -" she stammered as alarm bells started going off in her mind.

Maybe she shouldn't have come back here so soon - she'd forced herself to wait a few days, but apparently that had been nowhere near long enough. A year was sounded like a more appropriate length of time, right now.

"No, no, don't be sorry," Blake quickly replied, putting an end to that train of thought with a shake of her head. "Is there something else I can help you find?"

Time to improvise - they'd already digressed from the course of conversation she'd repeated in her head over and over again. No problem...she was quick at thinking on her feet - she was Yang freaking Xiao Long - flirter extraordinaire! No girl, no matter how attractive, made her n-nervous!

...ok...well she didn't know how she managed to stutter in her own thoughts, but she needed to pull it together and answer the question - she was a pro at this!

"Yeah...u-um...gardening."

When her tongue wasn't tied in knots, that is...

Thankfully, Blake merely looked amused by her words - or lack of them.

"You're looking for a book on gardening - is this another gift for someone?"

Knowing the answer to this question, she nodded her head enthusiastically. She was looking for a book on gardening for Ruby's -

"Her uh...she's my - girlfriend."

Clenching one fist, she pinched the bridge of her nose at her most recent idiot mistake.

That was the _worst_ time to leave out words!

"Oh, your girlfriend?" Blake replied, suddenly a lot less playful than before. "That's...very sweet of you -"

"N-no! Uh, not mine - my sister's," she said quickly, watching the girl's expression turn from disappointment to confusion. If only she could make more sense - or if her mouth would cooperate for half a second.

"Weiss...she's my _sister's_ girlfriend - not mine. I'm not seeing anyone, not anyone at all. Completely free of romantic ties...like a bird or uh...badger, er, something. Uh...a-are you seeing anyone...?"

Blake was much less confused now - and giggling again, which was probably a good sign.

Although it didn't _feel_ particularly good when it felt like her cheeks could burst into flames at any moment.

"No," the girl answered, shaking her head with a chuckle. "I'm not seeing anyone."

See? That hadn't turned out so bad - she'd even managed to score a vital piece of information. Way to go!

"That's good!" she replied with a big smile, immediately backtracking when Blake arched an eyebrow in surprise. "I-I mean, that's good if you don't want to be seeing anyone! But if you do, I guess that's, well, not _bad_ , but...um...dammit."

Even though she was blushing profusely, she had to smile at her mistake while the girl laughed.

At least Blake had an incredible sense of humor. One would have to in order to put up with this inept flirting for so long.

"You're not very good at talking to girls, are you?" Blake asked her, eyes twinkling playfully.

"Apparently not..." she mumbled in reply, now beginning to question everything she'd once believed about herself.

"Don't worry," the girl said, walking around the counter to stand in front of her. "It's cute."

Never in her life had her cheeks flushed so deeply - becoming the surface of the sun in under a second.

Cute - she's heard that right, right? She'd just been called cute?

"Now, if you'd just tell me your name, I'll show you to the gardening section."

Her eyes widened in horror at the statement, realizing she'd completely skipped the part of her speech where she gave Blake her name.

Ok, that's alright, just another tiny little mistake to fix...but how would she normally deal with this? Blake was clearly being playful in the request...so she needed to say something playful back...

"Are you...blackmailing me?"

Yes! A joke! She'd managed to make a joke!

God...things were really bad if she needed to celebrate that.

"Absolutely," Blake responded without missing a beat. "I'm holding the entire gardening section hostage until you tell me your name."

"W-well...what if I can find it on my own?" she asked, feeling mentally exhausted from managing to string together two solid questions in a row.

"Can you?"

Her bluff being called, she lost any semblance of being able to participate in witty banter any longer.

"Uh...sure...Non-fiction G?"

Her answer made Blake let out the most adorable snort of amusement - the girl covering her mouth in embarrassment immediately afterward.

And _that_ was just about the cutest thing she'd ever witnessed in her life.

"Yang," she said while the girl recovered from temporary embarrassment, before realizing she needed to add a few more words. "That's my name - Yang."

With a smile, Blake nodded to her before turning slightly away.

"Well, Yang, if you'll follow me, I'll show you where we keep the books on gardening."

They didn't need to travel very far - the section located on the bookcase on the wall nearest to the checkout counter. And, unlike the weapon books, there was a vast selection of books on botany, taking up nearly five entire shelves.

"So, what sort of gardening does your sister's girlfriend do?" Blake asked as they stood in front of the shelves, golden eyes scanning the titles.

"Uh…"

Shoot. She'd only made that up because Weiss liked flowers, but the girl didn't do any real gardening - she was a multi billionaire, after all.

Blake's eyes turned from the books to her, searching for an answer to what should have been an easy question.

"Just the...planting and growing kind."

Yup, she sounded like a real genius with that one.

Incredibly, the girl wasn't phased in the slightest by the response, giving her a small smile before turning back to the shelves, raising a hand to run one slender finger across the spines.

"Do you know what her favorite flowers are?"

"Roses - definitely roses," she answered confidently, intently watching the girl's every movement, completely mesmerized.

"Roses are pretty. I'm a fan of lilies, myself. What about this one on caring for roses?"

Pulling out the hardcover, Blake held it up so that she could read the title - 'Types of Roses and Their Environments.'

"That could work," she replied with a nod, reaching out to take the book from the girl.

It honestly didn't really matter what she bought today - she would be giving it to Weiss as a gag gift, anyway. But in order to keep up the act that this was actually a present, she opened the front cover and flipped quickly through the pages before snapping it shut.

"Yup! This one," she said with a nod of satisfaction, tucking the item underneath one arm.

"Great!" Blake responded with a wide smile. "So...was that all you needed?"

"Uh…"

That hadn't taken very long at all...and she didn't want to leave the girl's company just yet, even though she still wasn't having much success speaking.

She needed something else they could look for...

"Uh, actually, I've been wanting to read...more...maybe you can give me something? L-like a recommendation?"

Hey, that had actually been quick _and_ somewhat...normal sounding.

"Oh, yeah absolutely!" the girl said excitedly before walking quickly towards another section of the store.

She as the girl zeroed in on a very specific shelf and pulled out a book to show her.

"One of my all-time favorite books," Blake explained, holding up the front cover so she could read the title.

"The...Fire Within?"

"Yes!" the girl immediately exclaimed, briefly hugging the item to her chest before flipping open the cover as if she might start reading it right there. "It's kind of a...romance and action novel shoved into one. A story of overcoming betrayal, striving for redemption, finding true love…I think you'd enjoy it - especially the fight scenes."

"Fights are cool…" she said, a little too distracted by what she'd just uncovered to give a more articulate answer.

Like a complete imbecile, she'd failed to make the connection earlier, but _this_ was what the girl really loved to talk about - action...romance...adventure...not the boring books she'd been in here buying, but _these_ books - the ones that unleashed one's imagination, that sent the reader tumbling into a magnificent, foreign land.

She'd been stumbling around with the completely wrong subject trying to connect with the girl.

"I actually think there's a sequel coming out towards the end of this year - I'd need to check the date again, but I'm really excited for it," the girl continued, flipping quickly through the pages with a smile on her face.

It was...so adorable...how Blake's amber eyes were twinkling with excitement and her words were rushing out much quicker than usual. She found herself completely drawn in, engrossed not so much by the words being said, but by the way Blake was presenting them to her.

"I'll definitely read it," she finally replied, reaching out for the copy Blake was still holding, only to be surprised when the girl actually drew the book out of her reach.

"Oh, actually...I have my copy here today - would you like to borrow it?"

"Really?" she practically squeaked at the unexpected offer. "Is that really...ok?"

"Sure! I just finished reading it for like the hundredth time this morning."

Placing the brand new copy back on the shelf with the utmost care, the girl then led the way back to the front counter. On the employees' side, Blake picked up a small backpack, removing a worn out paperback and placed it on the counter in between them.

Hesitantly reaching forward, she picked up the treasured novel carefully while the girl rang up the book on roses she would actually be purchasing today.

Feeling the soft cover within her hands, she couldn't help thinking that it was awfully nice of the girl to loan the book to a complete stranger.

But...maybe Blake was giving her an excuse to have to come back?

"I'll read it and bring it back right away!" she said, handing her credit card over to the girl without even waiting for a price.

"Don't worry, you can take your time," Blake responded reassuringly. "Since I just read it, I won't feel like rereading it for...at least another week or so."

Her eyes widened at the statement.

The girl couldn't really be reading the same story every week...could she? And this wasn't a short book - it would normally take her at least a month to get through the entire thing!

It was only when Blake handed her card back with a grin that she realized the girl was only teasing her.

"I'll uh...still try to get it back as fast as possible," she replied, flushing when their hands brushed ever so slightly. "And thank you, for helping me with the uh...lilies."

Hearing a giggle, she immediately knew she'd guessed the wrong flower.

"Roses," Blake gently corrected her with another smile.

"R-right, roses," she answered with an embarrassed smile. "She'll be lucky if I can even remember to wrap it for her."

The girl giggled at her self-deprecating joke and rested both hands casually upon the countertop.

"Well, if your sister is anything like you...this girl is already really lucky."

Her cheeks burst into flames at the seemingly innocent comment.

Was that...was Blake flirting with her?

Oh...ok...don't freak out...but how was she supposed to respond? She was supposed to flirt back, right? Say something super complimentary.

A line - she needed a line. She'd practiced these! She had an entire repertoire to choose from.

Nervously leaning a little further across the counter, she quickly ran her tongue across her lips, trying to ignore how her mouth suddenly felt like a desert.

"Y-you know...it really isn't fair - that you've somehow...uh…"

Uh oh, this line was falling apart halfway through.

"That you somehow...stole the stars and...put them in your...or, uh, used them...your eyes are like stars."

Grimacing at the awful attempt at a compliment, she shook her head and grabbed the handle of the bag containing her useless book on roses.

Blake was grinning at her, although it was surely out of entertainment rather than anything else.

"Thank you, for this," she finished in defeat, holding up the paperback before making a hasty retreat towards the exit, not daring to look back.

'Your eyes are like stars?' What the hell was that? That wasn't even close!

'It's really not fair - that you've somehow captured the stars and hidden them behind your eyes. I can't help but to be mesmerized by their beauty.'

Yeah, she hadn't even come close to saying that one correctly. Even worse, she'd used that line at least a half dozen times and _never_ fumbled the delivery.

With a heavy sigh, she made her way back towards the train station. When the next train had arrived and she'd found a seat on board, she flipped open the front cover of the novel she'd just received on loan.

Written inside the front cover, she found the name 'Blake Belladonna' scrawled in neat cursive handwriting.

The sight made her giggle as she ran one thumb across the name.

How cute was that? It was something a little kid would do - making sure no one else mistook this book for their own.

When a group of loud girls got onto the train just before it was about to leave the station, she turned away from them, flipping a few more pages to start reading from the beginning.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for all the support on this little idea of mine! I'm glad everyone enjoyed awkward Yang as much as I did!**

* * *

"Weiss, seriously I like this girl _so much_. I don't even know what to do about it..."

"Why don't you do what you normally do? Spout some ridiculous line and wait patiently while she writes down her phone number."

The girl giggled at the clever response, but she wasn't in the mood to listen to Weiss' attempts to be funny right now - this was an _actual_ emergency!

"Don't you think I've tried? I've been failing miserably - and I'm running out of people to buy books for."

Eventually Blake would catch on that she was only buying books as an excuse to be there talking - and _that_ would be...well, not that much more embarrassing as some of the things she'd already said.

"Wait...you can't actually be telling me... _you're_ having problems _flirting_ with someone?"

She frowned as Weiss' laughter filtered through the phone.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, soooo funny," she responded flatly. "Come on, Weiss - I need your help! How do I let her know that I like her? I have one idea, but it totally sucks."

"You're asking _me_ for advice?"

"Yeah! You're like the most awkward person I know when it comes to feelings - I have no idea how you and Ruby ended up together, but there must be something helpful in there somewhere!"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the telephone, while Weiss was probably trying to decide whether to yell at her or actually help.

"Ruby!" the girl hollered into the phone instead. "Here, talk to your sister - she needs your help."

"No - no, Weiss! I don't want Ruby -"

"Yang?"

"Heyyy Ruby."

"What do you need help with?"

Sighing, she figured she might as well see what sort of wisdom her little sister might be able to offer. Even though she highly doubted it would be much help - the girl couldn't flirt to save her life. The brunette had won over Weiss with that adorable sweetness that oozed from every pore.

Unfortunately, she lacked in the adorable sweetness department. She used to make up for that with charm, but with that gone...

"I'm just...having a little problem with a...girl," she admitted quietly, lowering her voice so that no one walking on the sidewalk near her would overhear.

"Girl problem? Like, she won't leave you alone?"

"Uh...no...the opposite, actually. I can't figure out how to spend _more_ time with her - cuz I sorta...really like her..."

"You...really...what? Weiss! Did you know about this?"

She heard another voice speaking hazily in the background for a few seconds, until she could suddenly hear Weiss speaking much more clearly.

"Hey Yang, I put you on speaker - tell us about this girl!" Ruby said excitedly, completely forgetting that she'd been asking for help.

"God, you guys are the worst...her name is Blake. She works at this little bookstore downtown and she's so cute and sweet and...perfect..."

Her words trailed off as an image of the girl appeared in her mind, flashing that amused smile at her while once again filling her chest with butterflies.

"Oh my god...is she swooning?" Weiss asked in disbelief.

"She's swooning!" Ruby quipped cheerfully.

"Guys, really not helping."

"Can you not flirt with _any_ girls anymore?" Weiss pressed, far too much amusement in the girl's voice for her liking - she could practically _see_ the girl's smirk floating in the air in front of her.

"No, I can! I just...don't want to. I want to flirt with _her_ \- but then my brain completely shuts down and I can't!"

It was still so unnerving...it was like she'd been stripped of all her armor and forced to go into battle with nothing but a stick.

"I think you just ask her out, and even if it's horrible and awkward, at least you did it," Weiss suggested.

"Yeah!" Ruby wholeheartedly agreed. "And maybe she's nervous too!"

"She's not nervous," she replied, suppressing the urge to turn around and go home - giving up this hopeless endeavor. "She's totally cool - she spends most of the time laughing at my inability to speak."

"Then...what are you going to do?" Ruby asked.

"Well, since you guys don't have any brilliant ideas, I'm going to do the only thing I thought of," she replied while brushing past another slowly moving pedestrian on the sidewalk. "I'm going to return the book she lent me, and I wrote my number on a little piece of paper and stuck it inside. So when she finds it, I'm hoping she calls me."

There was a long pause of silence on the other end of the line as the two girls mulled over her grand plan.

"Wow...that sounds so…"

"Un-Yang-like," Ruby finished.

"Does that mean - do you think it's a horrible idea?" she asked, suddenly even _more_ nervous, if that was possible.

But it was literally the _only_ thing she'd been able to think of after hours of thought.

"Well, what happens if she doesn't get the note for a while? Wouldn't the wait drive you crazy?" Weiss asked.

The girl made a very good point - she would literally be jumping in excitement every time her phone rang, only to be disappointed when it wasn't Blake...for how long? Days? Weeks? Months?

"I could make sure it's a little visible at the top -"

"Then what if she finds it right away? She'll read it right in front of you," Ruby commented.

The thought drained all the blood from her face.

That would be horrible. She could just imagine Blake standing there, reading her tiny note, looking really confused as to why she'd left her number on a piece of paper in a book instead of giving it directly to her like a normal person.

"Then what do I do?" she wailed. "The store's gonna close soon so I can't exactly sit down and plan something else!"

"Just...do what Yang would do. Throw out some flattery and cute compliments and ask her out!" Ruby said.

"Yeah, if it's really as bad as you say, you probably can't make it any worse," Weiss added, the girl clearly still smirking at the situation.

"Believe me...I would somehow find a way to make it worse. That's how bad this is," she replied, vividly remembering the botched 'your eyes are stars' compliment.

"Just go for it, Yang! I know you can do it!" Ruby encouraged her, as always her number one fan.

"I bet she chickens out," Weiss added flippantly.

She immediately knew what the girl was doing...but fell for it anyway.

"I will _not_ chicken out," she replied with a scoff.

"You so totally will."

"I won't! I swear I'll ask her out _right now_ \- if I don't…"

She could hear the other two waiting on bated breath for what this wager would be. She needed to go big -

"If I don't, I will...I'll…"

Oh god...could she say this? It was pretty drastic...but she needed drastic. Anything less, and she would _actually_ chicken out. And then Weiss would never let her hear the end of it.

"I'll cut my hair!"

Ruby gasped.

"You're kidding," Weiss replied in disbelief.

"I'm...so totally serious," she answered, biting her lip as her nerves amplified. "If I don't ask her out, then I'll cut my hair."

Running one hand through her long hair, she was already regretting the words.

Not her hair...she didn't want to cut her hair!

"Wow…well, you'll look really weird with shorter hair," Weiss commented.

"Yeah! Totally weird," Ruby agreed.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence!" she said, rolling her eyes just as Pages came into view. "I'll let you guys know how it goes - love you!"

"Love you too!" she heard her little sister quip before disconnecting the call and shoving her phone into one of her pockets.

The stakes for this evening had just been raised to _epic_ levels.

It was with a deep breath that she opened the door and stepped inside, greeted once again by the smell of stacks and stacks of paper. Wasting no time by the door, she walked immediately to the counter, which she reached just in time to watch Blake hand a shopping bag towards a customer - the man turning away and striding past her towards the exit a second later.

It was then that Blake's eyes found hers and that tiny smile grew even bigger.

And butterflies once again went crazy in her chest.

This time, the girl walked around the counter to greet her before she could even try to say hello.

"Yang," Blake said, eyes twinkling in anticipation. "What are we looking for today? More gifts for...girlfriends?"

Laughing nervously at the joke, she ran her hand through her hair one more time while searching for the words to respond with.

It could just be her imagination...but it felt like the girl was happy to see her. Like... _really_ happy to see her.

But maybe that was just her wishful thinking...

God, this was going to end so badly.

"I, uh...actually, I wanted to get this back to you," she replied, pulling the loved book carefully from her bag and handing it over to the girl, who took it in moderate confusion.

"You read it already?"

"Y-yeah! Of course!" she said, leaving out the part where she'd skipped work today in order to finish the entire thing in one sitting. "I didn't want you to be without it for too long."

"And…?" Blake asked, leaning back against the counter and looking at her expectantly.

And her mind froze.

"And?" she asked, unable to figure out what the girl was trying to ask her.

Blake giggled at her obliviousness.

"And...what did you think of it?"

"Oh!"

Duh, Yang.

"It was really, really awesome - just...great."

No one would ever believe her, but she'd actually written down a quick review of the novel after she'd finished and memorized it. Of course, she couldn't remember any of what she'd written now that she was here.

"I'm happy to hear that! What were some of your favorite parts?"

"Oh um…"

She'd _just_ read it - how was she having such a difficult time remembering what happened?

She knew she should have written down some talking points on her hand...

"The uh...the part in the hospital -" she began, a hazy memory of that chapter beginning to form. "Where they finally admitted their feelings for each other - that was my favorite part."

Now that she could recall the scene, she remembered how she'd practically squealed with joy when the two main characters had _finally_ gotten on the same page. It had only taken like...29 chapters for that to happen…

"That's a _great_ choice," Blake responded with a happy grin. "And probably my favorite part too - who doesn't love seeing a long overdue romance finally sparking to life?"

There always seemed to be more behind the girl's words than face value...which she might have been able to figure out if her brain wasn't refusing to function normally.

"So...did you maybe want another recommendation or...?"

Blake let the question trail off, allowing her the opportunity to suggest something different.

Like what she'd come here determined to do….which the life of her hair now depended upon.

"Oh, uh...no, I just wanted to get that back to you," she replied, internally kicking herself for her cowardice.

Blake looked a little disappointed, absentmindedly tapping the spine of the book against one palm while thinking deeply on something. But the girl merely nodded at her words.

"Oh...ok, well if you ever need anything else…"

"Y-yeah, definitely!" she replied as she backed slowly away, overwhelmed by how extraordinarily nervous the thought of asking the girl out made her.

But as she turned around and several strands of hair fell across her shoulder, she paused.

Ruby would sympathize with her, but Weiss...Weiss would make some comment about standing by her words and following through, yada yada, and she would be forced to follow through in order to maintain her pride.

Plus, what was the worse that could happen - Blake could say no?

Oh god...Blake could say no.

Nope, she was going to do it. Because...she was Yang Xiao Long. And she was...not...afraid of asking a beautiful, intelligent, fun, playful girl out.

Turning slowly back towards the counter, she found the girl still watching her intently, Blake straightening from her relaxed posture as they made eye contact once more.

"I uh...actually wanted to ask you something..."

It felt like she'd just eaten a jar of sand - her mouth incredibly dry as she tried to speak. Making matters worse was how loudly her heart was beating in her ears, making it difficult to hear anything she could possibly say.

But Blake was patiently waiting for the question, giving her a small smile of encouragement and a nod to continue.

Here goes nothing - her hair would be safe.

Ego? Well...maybe not so much.

"I was...I was hoping maybe sometime...we could see each other outside of this store? I mean, like, intentionally see each other, not just bump into each other on the street or something. N-not that that would be a bad thing, either! I'd just like to _try_ to see you - n-not in a creepy way or anything - but...uh…g-god this is terrible. Can I - can I try that again?"

Blake gave her an amused grin and nodded again, eyes sparkling with unconcealed delight.

"Ok...ok…" she said, taking a deep breath and briefly closing her eyes in an attempt to clear her mind and still her nerves.

Of course, when she reopened her eyes, Blake was still gazing at her intently, golden eyes filled with patience and amusement.

"M-maybe sometime...you and I...we could meet somewhere else, somewhere not here. Or I mean, I guess we could _meet_ here, but then leave - or just spend time together? Doing things that are - fun or something?"

Cringing, she raised one hand and pinched the bridge of her nose, wondering exactly how she managed to sound so stupid in so few sentences.

"That wasn't any better, was it?" she asked, risking another glance at the girl.

But Blake just laughed happily at the question.

"It was a _little_ better," the girl replied, before suddenly reaching forward and taking ahold of both her hands.

And she literally stopped breathing - staring down at their joined hands, feeling every bit of silky smooth skin touching her own. The girl had such soft hands...and they were so warm...she could probably stay like this forever -

"Yang?"

Jerking her head up, she found Blake looking at her with the beginnings of a smirk tugging at the corners of her lips.

"Yeah?" she asked, the word coming out breathless even though she hadn't moved a muscle in the past few seconds.

"Would you like to get dinner with me?" Blake asked slowly, clearly repeating a question she'd already posed. "I could close up now and we could walk somewhere - there's plenty of good places nearby."

"You're...are you serious?"

This was...unexpected. She'd...Blake was agreeing - or, actually, Blake was asking _her_ out?

 _Right now?_

Blake just chuckled at her shock, walking back behind the register and pulling out a set of keys to begin whatever lockup procedure the store had.

"This'll just take a minute."

Nodding her head, she moved over to wait by the counter while the girl rushed off towards the very back of the store.

Somehow...her bumbling had actually been enough for the girl to agree to her botched request?

The sound of a few light switches being flipped accompanied the sudden darkness in the back half of the store. A few seconds later, the girl was returning to the counter, where she began typing things into the computer.

"You know, when you first walked in...I thought you were just another one of those pretty girls who flirted for the fun of it," Blake said, glancing away from the computer to smile at her. "But then you opened your mouth..."

"W-well," she began to respond, not wanting Blake to get the wrong impression of who she...had been. "I actually - I mean, I _used_ to flirt a lot...but now I can't really seem to..."

Blake just laughed at that admission, seemingly unsurprised.

"Yeah, I figured that out when you looked just as shocked as I was by the words coming out of your mouth...or the complete lack of them."

She managed to chuckle in embarrassment, remembering how horribly tongue tied she'd been their first...and every subsequent...meeting.

"I'm normally...a little more charming," she added.

Blake made a soft 'hmm' of understanding, clicking one last thing on the computer screen before reaching underneath the counter to grab a small backpack.

"I have to ask," the girl suddenly asked, setting the bag temporarily down on the counter. "Why did you even come back? This must make you really uncomfortable."

"I - well because you're...very pretty and really -"

Feeling another blush appear from admitting that she thought Blake was pretty, she stopped talking and shrugged her shoulders, unsure as to where she'd wanted to go from there.

It was really difficult for her to explain why she'd gone back - just that she'd known she _had_ to...because she'd never felt this way before.

"Well, I'm glad you did," Blake replied with a smile.

"Really? Even though I'm just...like, a bumbling idiot?"

Now it was Blake's turn to shrug her shoulders.

"I think it's adorable. Plus, wouldn't you want to be around someone who brings out a side of you that you've never seen before?"

There had probably been much more to touch on in the girl's words, but her brain had temporarily frozen - replaying the word 'adorable' over and over again.

Maybe Ruby hadn't gotten all those genes, after all!

"You...think I'm adorable?"

Surprisingly, Blake looked a little embarrassed at her question, blushing ever so slightly but not breaking eye contact.

"Yes...of course. I wouldn't have asked you to dinner otherwise."

She stared for a second, feeling her cheeks grow even hotter at Blake's admission.

If anyone had asked her last week if she would want to spend her days feeling completely flustered around a girl, she would have said hell no. But, sitting here, she realized how addicting it was. Standing here, making a fool out of herself, was somehow _addicting_.

Maybe it was because it was something she'd never experienced before - something that was not easy...where she was starting from scratch.

But it was actually...amazing.

She was learning how to talk to Blake, how to be around the girl, from nothing. None of her prior flirting 'experience' did her any good. Nor did any of the pick up lines she'd used before...it was all garbage.

This was truly the biggest challenge she'd ever been presented, all wrapped up in the single, grinning girl standing in front of her. Maybe she wouldn't be able to flirt with Blake for months, but when she finally could...she will have learned something actually worthwhile.

She'll have learned how to be the other half of a whole - how to be someone's soulmate.

Because that's what they must be - she was sure of it now. That was the only way to explain the girl's effect on her - how her life had been turned completely upside down the moment she'd walked into some random tiny bookstore.

Picking up her bag and slinging it over one shoulder, the girl gave her another smile.

"Ready?"

With a nod, the two of them walked to the front door, where Blake flipped off the remaining lights before they stepped outside - for the first time, the two of them leaving the pages of books behind as they traversed into the real world.


	4. Chapter 4

**Ah, tiny kicker here. Enjoy! This is the end, for real.**

* * *

"So _these_ go in the Non-fiction section, right?"

When Blake giggled and nodded, she picked up the stack of books and walked over to the correct aisle, scanning the shelves to find the exact spots she should put the items - or where she should _try_ to put them. There usually wasn't enough room, in which case she would just stack them on top of other books.

Thankfully, there was still a _little_ extra room in this area, allowing her to quickly dispense of the recent books she'd been given to put away. When her hands were empty, she walked back to the counter, hearing the soft jingle of the front door opening at the same time.

Blake had put the bell on the door just last week - and it had already paid dividends. It was extremely useful to know when people walked in...mostly because sometimes they didn't really notice the sound of the door opening when they were...busy doing other things.

"You know your way around pretty well," Blake said to her with a smile, still scanning the next stack of books that would need to be re-shelved.

"I can do _some_ things right around you," she replied with a grin of her own.

She'd been coming back to Pages basically every day immediately after work, trying to spend as much time with Blake as possible. During the last couple weeks, she'd ended up helping out with a lot of the small chores needing to be done - which meant she now knew the little store like the back of her hand.

Leaning against the counter while waiting for Blake to finish her part of their joint task, she began to hear whispers.

Very _familiar_ whispers.

Searching for the source of the sound, she groaned when she finally caught sight of the girls who had walked into the store.

The two girls were wearing the most _ridiculous_ matching white jump suits, with white baseball caps on their heads. Whispering excitedly between themselves as they approached the checkout counter, their eyes flitted between her and Blake repeatedly.

"Can I help you?" Blake asked from behind the counter, eyeing the pair curiously.

"Oh, uh, just browsing," Weiss replied, flashing a big smile.

"Do you have any comics?"

"Ruby!" Weiss scolded the girl, elbowing the brunette lightly in the side.

"What? I just thought I'd look while we're here!"

"Must you be such a child?" Weiss replied in exasperation, although the way the heiress gently took hold of the girl's hand at the same moment displayed much more love than frustration.

"Uh...sorry, we don't have any comics...but the children's section is over there," Blake replied, pointing towards the small corner of the store dedicated to that genre.

"Thank you!" Ruby said politely before turning to walk away.

"Guys," she finally cut in, having been completely ignored up to this moment. "Seriously?"

The two girls turned back to her, varying levels of fake confusion on their faces.

"I'm sorry, but do we know you?"

Blake burst into giggles at Weiss' statement, clearly having already figured out the identities of the girls standing in front of them. She had mentioned that her sister's name was Ruby, after all.

And that Ruby's girlfriend was a bossy little thing with white hair...

"You must be Ruby and Weiss," the girl said, nodding to each of them in turn.

"Yeah! You know us?" Ruby asked excitedly, dropping her act in a heartbeat.

"Yang talks about you often," Blake replied with a smile. "Or at least, she tries to."

"Hey! I'm much better now…" she whined, blushing regardless as Blake stepped out from behind the counter to join her.

But she _had_ gotten better. She'd been able to hold somewhat normal conversations with Blake on a regular basis these days. And she only stuck her foot in her mouth about every other sentence…or anytime she tried to flirt...or when they kissed.

God, when they kissed...that was bad. She basically reverted to single word sentences for at least ten minutes afterwards.

Of course, Blake had found that to be a rather amusing game to play, giving her a kiss and then asking her complicated questions, or sending her off to attempt to order their dinner.

Those instances all turned out to be epic messes - not that she minded in the slightest. She was the one getting kissed, after all.

"We really wanted to meet you!" Ruby exclaimed, running forward and wrapping Blake in a hug the girl clearly hadn't expected. "And since _someone_ said we couldn't -"

"Which you _clearly_ listened to."

"- we decided to come down here to meet you ourselves!"

Nudging Weiss in the side, Ruby gave her girlfriend one of those completely disarming, megawatt smiles.

"It was all Weiss' idea."

"W-what?" the girl immediately sputtered, ratted out by an overwhelmingly proud brunette. "This was not... _solely_...my idea."

Grinning at the sight of a disgruntled heiress (one of her _very_ favorite things), she walked slowly forward, making sure to approach as suggestively as possible just to make the girl even more uncomfortable.

"Wow, Weiss...I didn't realize -"

The girl's blue eyes widened ever so slightly when her words faltered, her mind unable to figure out what to say next.

"I didn't realize...that, uh…"

Ruby and Weiss were now staring at her like she'd grown a third head as her words trailed off into nothing - another miserable attempt to flirt in Blake's presence falling flat.

"Oh my god…" Ruby whispered as if only her girlfriend could hear. "Weiss...she can't flirt with you!"

The heiress narrowed her eyes before opening her mouth to respond.

"Hey, Yang, I was hoping you could help me pick out the perfect dress for next weekend? Ruby and I are going to this fundraiser and I want to make sure I look appropriate."

"The _perfect_ dress, you say? Um...yeah I could help with that."

Shaking her head, she felt a hot blush darken her cheeks while Weiss turned to Blake with a look of absolute admiration and awe.

"You're like...magic. How do you do that?"

"She's not _magic_ ," she interrupted. "She's - a...amazing."

Her cheeks were now positively burning in embarrassment as Ruby and Weiss giggled uncontrollably.

"She's 'a - amazing'?"

"Yang, since when is _that_ how you compliment a girl?"

"I told you…" she replied, her embarrassment fading slightly when a soft hand slid reassuringly into hers. "I can't really...flirt very well anymore."

"But what happened to all those snazzy lines you would use?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah like 'you're so beautiful the sun gets jealous' or "I can die happy now that I've seen the most gorgeous person alive?'" Weiss added.

"You guys!"

"Oh, those all sound nice," Blake replied, giving her a wink that said she wasn't bothered by the conversation in the slightest. "All I got was 'your eyes are like stars' followed by her practically running away from me."

"I wasn't... _running…_ "

She grinned as all three girls laughed happily, clearly enjoying the new side of her she'd just recently discovered.

Hopefully they didn't mind it - because this Yang was going to be here for awhile. She'd turned a new leaf.

Or...as some people would say...turned a new _page_.

Dammit...if only she could say that out loud without messing it up somehow.


End file.
